Page 71 - The Guide To Sarawak

THE GUIDE TO SARAWAK
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The Bidayuh always like to look their best for community events, with both men and women combining western dress with traditional costumes to stunning effect.
skill in basket weaving, and produce baskets, mats, backpacks and household items of superb quality. Music and dance are important parts of ritual life, and the Bidayuh are famed for their expertise playing the agung, a set of huge brass gongs which creates complex melodies and rhythms. Another important use for brass is the multiple leg rings which many older women still wear as a mark of status and wealth. Painting was never a popular traditional medium, but traditional motifs play a leading role
in contemporary Bidayuh
art, and many of Sarawak’s leading modern painters are Bidayuh.
THE BIDAYUH OF TODAY
The majority of the Bidayuh live in the suburban
areas of Kuching, with
a good number in the major towns of Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia and other countries, working in various occupations, both in the public and private sectors. Many of those still remaining in the villages
are involved in padi farming and at the same time venture into cash crops, oil palm small holdings, market gardening and ecotourism
or work in oil palm estates. As most of the community are located on the fringe of urban centres, they have easy access to modern education, amenities and facilities, and their way
of life reflects this. The Bidayuh are very adaptable to changing economic and social circumstances and get along well with other ethnic groups. As a result, the Bidayuh are nowadays engaged in all kinds of economic activities and are perfectly poised to play a major supporting role and prosper as Malaysia strives to become a developed nation.